Hi wvwoman!
Thank you for your post.
I too am glad to hear that someone else remembers that quote and also got stuck.
Being that I couldn't solve it, I didn't get to see the percentage of players that were successful, so it's good to hear I wasn't the only one.
Also, thanks for the compliment, but let's get real - you are at number 15 this month and I'm not even in the top 50!
momof7

Thanx for the thought.
It could be, I just don't remember anything about the quote anymore,
which makes it extremely difficult to help me with it of course.
I feel like one of my kids asking for help with some assignment
when they only have a very vague clue of what they are supposed to be doing.
"We're supposed to read something, but I can't remember if the teacher gave us a story to read, or we're supposed to find our own book. Then we answer some questions, or write a summary, or maybe a character sketch...I'm not sure which. It's not due tomorrow, but maybe next week sometime. Can you help me?"

So, after perusing (lurking) this forum, I headed back out to solve some more cryptos. I almost immediately came up against this quote:

"An excuse is worse than a lie, for an excuse is a lie, guarded" - Alexander Pope

An uncharacteristically simple quote from the quixotic man, but I saw his name and started freaking out. I was typing "o pie" this, "o pie" that. I think it took me a full five minutes to snap myself out of it. Chalk one up for intimidation...

hahaha, i'm 'put off' by certain folks, too! oddly, one of them is ol' ben franklin--i think perhaps because one never knows when it'll be one with thees and thous and thys in it. and i know his are often some of the easiest...nevertheless, if i see his name first, it makes my mind lurch a little and throws me off.